TY - JOUR T1 - Toric Spines at a Site of Learning JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0197-19.2019 VL - 7 IS - 1 SP - ENEURO.0197-19.2019 AU - Daniel Sanculi AU - Katherine E. Pannoni AU - Eric A. Bushong AU - Michael Crump AU - Michelle Sung AU - Vyoma Popat AU - Camilia Zaher AU - Emma Hicks AU - Ashley Song AU - Nikan Mofakham AU - Peining Li AU - Evan G. Antzoulatos AU - Diasynou Fioravante AU - Mark H. Ellisman AU - William M. DeBello Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/7/1/ENEURO.0197-19.2019.abstract N2 - We discovered a new type of dendritic spine. It is found on space-specific neurons in the barn owl inferior colliculus, a site of experience-dependent plasticity. Connectomic analysis revealed dendritic protrusions of unusual morphology including topological holes, hence termed “toric” spines (n = 76). More significantly, presynaptic terminals converging onto individual toric spines displayed numerous active zones (up to 49) derived from multiple axons (up to 11) with incoming trajectories distributed widely throughout 3D space. This arrangement is suited to integrate input sources. Dense reconstruction of two toric spines revealed that they were unconnected with the majority (∼84%) of intertwined axons, implying a high capacity for information storage. We developed an ex vivo slice preparation and provide the first published data on space-specific neuron intrinsic properties, including cellular subtypes with and without toric-like spines. We propose that toric spines are a cellular locus of sensory integration and behavioral learning. ER -